The present invention relates to a device for de-rinding pork.
Removing rind (de-rinding) is normally done manually with a knife or is carried out by means of a device with a cutting element equipped with a drive unit. A de-rinding knife is provided at one free end and a contact surface is provided at a distance equal to the thickness of the rind. When a relative movement takes place between a meaty zone from which rind is to be stripped and the cutting element with the passing contact surface, the rind is stripped off.
A known de-rinding device for pork is made as a standing device. It is provided with a horizontal working surface approximately 50 cm wide on which the hog parts which were previously cut into appropriate sized pieces are laid by a standing operator. A driven draw-in roller with teeth distributed over the circumference is placed horizontally in front of a horizontal, fixed de-rinding knife. To remove the rind, the operator presses down one end of the piece of meat from the top on the draw-in roller. The draw-in roller pushes the piece forward to the knife and the rind is separated from the meat. A receiving container is located below the cutting element and receives the detached rind. The piece of meat, stripped of its rind, is removed at the top by the operator.
With this process the danger of injury is considerable since the hands of the operator are within range of the cutting element and the draw-in roller which has teeth. De-rinding, especially as applied to pork parts, and their removal requires a great amount of attention and care. The fact that the design only allows for pork parts of maximum 50 cm width to be processed represents another disadvantage. Therefore de-rinding from whole or half hogs such as they are supplied by the slaughterhouse is not possible. Since the hogs must be scalded, shaved and divided into smaller parts before further processing, the operation is costly in time and money. Cost disadvantages are furthermore produced through the fact that a certain amount of working space must be provided for a standing device. Since a standing device must be heavy and must be securely anchored for reasons of stability, the investment costs for such a de-rinding accessory is correspondingly high.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to create a de-rinding device which lowers the cost of the de-rinding process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for removing rind from hogs which is portable and safe to use.